Cooperative Conflict Management Research Articles

Role of Servant Leadership Conglomerate Conflict Behaviour on Team Performance, Conflict Resolution Efficacy, and Turnover Intentionin Tanzania’s Higher Learning Institutions

This paper explores the intricate relationship between servant leadership, conflict management behaviour, and organizational outcomes in the context of Tanzania's higher learning institutions. Through a longitudinal study involving 800 respondents from four public universities, the research investigates the interplay between servant leadership and conflict management styles, specifically focusing on integrating and compromising behaviors. The study employed a comprehensive methodology, utilizing questionnaires distributed over two waves with a one-year time lag. The findings revealed a positive correlation between servant leadership and integrating conflict management styles, specifically avoiding and accommodating. However, the anticipated correlation between integrating and compromising conflict behaviours in servant leadership is not confirmed. The study further examined the prevalence of cooperative conflict management patterns among Tanzanian university leaders, highlighting a combination of problem-solving and compromising strategies. A significant aspect of the research involved cluster analysis, which revealed distinct conflict behaviour patterns in Tanzanian universities. The result showed a preference for compromising and low-integrating (co-operative) patterns, as well as high-integrating and low-compromising (competitive) patterns. Notably, these patterns were not mutually exclusive, indicating a nuanced approach to conflict management. In the second part of the study, the paper delved into the impact of servant leadership's cooperative behaviour on team performance, conflict resolution efficacy, and turnover intention. The results affirmed the positive relationship between integrating and compromising conflict management styles and team performance while forcing behaviour showed a negative correlation. Moreover, the study identified a negative relationship between accommodating and forcing conflict management styles and turnover intention. The paper concluded that servant leaders in Tanzanian universities adeptly combined different conflict management styles, mitigating the adverse effects of conflicts on team performance and turnover intention. Even though avoiding and accommodating conflict behaviours were used together, problem-solving and compromising strategies were used a lot. This showed that servant leadership was used in a more complex way in Tanzanian higher education. The study contributed valuable insights into the dynamics of servant leadership, conflict management, and organizational outcomes, emphasizing the need for a contextual understanding of leadership behaviours and their cultural implications.

Does Cooperative Conflict Management mediate the relationship between Diversity Appreciation and Self-Efficacy for Teamwork with Dissimilar Team-mates?

This research study examines the mediating influence of a problem-solving conflict style (PSCMS) on the relationship between diversity appreciation (DA) and self-efficacy for teamwork with team-mates who are perceived as dissimilar (SEDT). One hundred and ninety-six undergraduate business management students completed self-assessment measures of DA and SEDT, and identified a close associate who completed an observer version of the Dutch conflict management style scale. Product moment correlations were used to examine the hypothesized relationships between SEDT and both DA and PSCMS, and both the Hayes process and the Sobel test were used to test the hypothesis that PSCMS mediates the relationship between DA and SEDT. SEDT was significantly correlated with both DA (r = 0.34, p < 0.01) and PSCMS (r = 0.43, p < 0.01). DA was significantly correlated with PSCMS (r = 0.37, p < 0.01). Both the Hayes process and Sobel test (Z = 3.91, p < 0.001) confirmed that PSCMS partially mediated the relationship between DA and SEDT. Educators and practitioners need to be aware of the influence of DA and PSCMS on SEDT. Development activities that promote both diversity appreciation and use of a problem-solving conflict management style should help improve team member confidence in their ability to work with team-mates who they perceive as significantly different from themselves. This is the first study to examine the relationships between DA, PSCMS and SEDT. The results of this study highlight the importance of promoting both diversity appreciation and a problem-solving conflict management style as part of the process of helping team members develop confidence in their ability to successfully work with team-mates who they perceive as dissimilar.

Examination of the Relationships Between Diversity Appreciation, Self-Monitoring and Cooperative Conflict Management

This research study examines the mediating influence of self-monitoring (SM) on the relationship between diversity appreciation (DA) and cooperative conflict management (CCM). Two hundred and twenty-one undergraduate business students completed self-assessment measures of DA and SM, and identified a close associate who completed an observer version of the problem-solving component of the Dutch conflict management style scale. Product moment correlations were used to examine the hypothesized relationships between CCM and both DA and SM, and the Hayes process and the Sobel test were used to test the hypothesis that SM mediates the relationship between DA and CCM. CCM was significantly correlated with both DA (r = 0.30, p < 0.01) and SM (r = 0.37, p < 0.01). DA was significantly correlated with SM (r = 0.31, p < 0.01). Both the Hayes process and Sobel test (Z = 3.29, p < 0.001) confirmed that SM partially mediated the relationship between DA and CCM. Educators and practitioners need to be aware of the influence of DA and SM on CCM. Development activities that integrate diversity appreciation, sensitive responses toward the expressed behavior of others, and appropriate modification of self-presentation are likely to promote a cooperative approach to conflict management. This is the first study to examine the interrelationships between DA, SM and CCM. The results highlight the importance of promoting both diversity appreciation and self-monitoring as part of the process of encouraging more cooperative conflict management and strengthening the link between diversity and performance.

An Empirical Examination of the Relationship Between Team Commitment and Conflict Management Orientation in Project Teams

This study examines the relationship between team commitment and the conflict management approach of project team members. Project team members completed measures of team commitment and situational conflict management (approach used in the project team). Pearson product moment correlations support the hypotheses that team commitment is positively associated with cooperative conflict management approaches (compromising and problem-solving), and the Williams T2 test supports the hypothesis that the association between team commitment and a problem-solving conflict management approach is significantly greater than the association between team commitment and a compromising conflict management approach. This research highlights the importance of examining the potential influence of team commitment on the process of managing project conflict.

Exploring the relationships between team leader's conflict management styles and team passion: From the emotional perspective.

From the emotional perspective, this study explores how team leader's conflict management styles affect team passion. A theoretical model is constructed which describes the mediating role of positive team emotional climate and the moderating impact of team emotional intelligence. We collect 101 teams paired data including 101 team leaders and 383 team members to test theoretical model. It is shown that leader's cooperative conflict management style has a significant positive effect on both positive team emotional climate and team passion. Meanwhile, positive team emotional climate plays a mediating role between leader's cooperative conflict management style and team passion. In addition, team emotional intelligence has a moderating effect between leader's cooperative style and positive team emotional climate. This study not only provides a new perspective for follow-up research but also expands the research scope of impacts of conflict management styles. In addition, this study forms the underlying mechanism of team leader's conflict management styles on team passion from the emotional perspective and investigates the mediating effect and moderating effect of emotional variable, which broadens the research on the mechanisms of conflict management styles on team outcomes to a certain extent.

Team Leader’s Conflict Management Style and Team Innovation Performance in Remote R&D Teams—With Team Climate Perspective

Remote work has become a new way of working due to the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic, which inevitably aggravates team conflicts caused by cognitive differences given the lack of face-to-face communication. With a team climate perspective, this paper investigates the impact of the team leader’s conflict management style on team innovation performance in remote R&D teams in China based on social cognition theory and two-dimension theory. A theoretical model is constructed which describes the mediating effect of team psychological safety and the moderating impact of team trust. Paired data from 118 remote R&D teams in China including 118 leaders and 446 members were collected. The results show that team leader’s cooperative conflict management style is conducive to enhancing team psychological safety and further effectively improves team innovation performance. Therefore, team psychological safety has a mediating effect between team leader’s cooperative conflict management style and team innovation performance. In addition, team trust has a negative moderating effect between team leader’s cooperative conflict management style and team psychological safety. Besides, this study obtains some valuable culture-related insights and provides more views for conflict management research in the cross-cultural context since the samples in this study are from China, a society with high collectivism, which is different from the western cultural context from which many conflict management theories develop.

ÇATIŞMA YÖNETİM STİLLERİNİN ÖNCÜLLERİNE YÖNELİK BİR ARAŞTIRMA: BİLİNÇLİ FARKINDALIK VE DUYGUSAL ZEKANIN ROLÜ

Aim: Mindfulness means focusing on the moment with attention and a positive attitude. It is a Buddhist concept that was secularized by Kabat-Zinn (2005) and brought to the world of science, and its effects in different areas such as psychology, business administration, health sciences, guidance, and psychological counseling were studied. Numerous studies have found that mindfulness has positive effects on an individual’s attitudes and behaviors. A less studied concept regarding the influence of mindfulness is conflict management styles. In this research, the mediating role of emotional intelligence on the relationship between trait mindfulness and cooperative conflict management styles was determined.Method: Data were collected from 193 white-collar personnel who are employed in the public and private sectors using the convenience sampling method.Findings: Trait mindfulness was related to integrating and compromising conflict management styles. The mediation analysis was conducted with SPSSS Process Macro and it was found that emotional intelligence didn’t act as a mediator.Results: The integrating and compromising styles predict trait mindfulness. The theoretical contributions of the research were discussed and suggestions were given to the practitioners.

The Impact of Cognitive Heterogeneity on the Behavioral Integration of the R&D Team: The Perspective of Conflict Management

The impact of team heterogeneity on team effectiveness has received extensive attention. The paper aims to explore the mechanism of the effect of cognitive heterogeneity on behavioral integration in R&D teams. Based on the IPO theory, this study proposed six hypotheses about how cognitive heterogeneity directly and indirectly (via team conflict and conflict management) affect behavioral integration in R&D teams. Using data collected from 383 R&D teams in 326 high‐tech enterprises in China, we investigated whether the dimensions of team conflict mediate the relationship between cognitive heterogeneity and behavioral integration and whether the dimensions of conflict management regulate the impact of cognitive heterogeneity on behavioral integration. The results show the following: (1) cognitive heterogeneity has a significant negative impact on the behavioral integration of R&D teams. Task conflict and relationship conflict fully mediate the relationship between cognitive heterogeneity and behavioral integration. (2) Cooperative conflict management positively moderates the impact of cognitive heterogeneity on task conflict and the impact of task conflict on team behavioral integration. (3) Avoidance conflict management reversely adjusts the positive impact of cognitive heterogeneity on task conflict and relationship conflict and the negative impact of relationship conflict on team behavioral integration. The research results can provide theoretical guidance to improve the process management of cognitive heterogeneity R&D teams.

Correction to Klostermann, Ontrup, Thomaschewski, and Kluge (2021)

Correction to Klostermann, Ontrup, Thomaschewski, and Kluge (2021)

The Effect of Political Skill on Relationship Quality in Construction Projects: The Mediating Effect of Cooperative Conflict Management Styles

Negative consequences can arise if interpersonal conflicts in construction projects are not handled properly. This study aims to investigate the relationship among political skill, cooperative conflict management styles, and relationship quality. Multiple regressions were used to test the hypothesis based on 206 items of data collected from construction project practitioners in China. Results demonstrate the mechanism of action among political skill, conflict management styles, and relationship quality and verify the mediating effect of cooperative conflict management styles, providing enlightenment for future research on conflict management.

A Empirical Analysis on Conflict Risk Perception in Local Public Corporations

This study proposes alternatives for improving the conflict management system of local public corporations. The research methodology analyzed the awareness survey on the status of public conflicts in local public corporations in Korea. The analysis results are as follows. This research found a high level of interest in public conflicts in connection with local public corporations but a low level of awareness of the negative effects of public disputes. Conflicts involving local public corporations significantly negatively impact local communities and residents, requiring urgent resolution. As a priority strategy for government departments or local governments to resolve public conflicts, persuasion was the highest at 20.8%, followed by negotiations (18.0%), rewards (14.8%), legal and institutional adjustment (14.8%), and participation (14.2%). Local public corporations need to introduce and operate a cooperative conflict management system through consultation with local governments as soon as possible.

Does Intragroup Conflict Intensity Matter? The Moderating Effects of Conflict Management on Emotional Exhaustion and Work Engagement.

To elucidate the distinct effects of relationship conflict (RC) and task conflict (TC), we investigated the intensity (low vs. high) of the two types of conflict on emotional exhaustion and work engagement. Furthermore, we examined how cooperative vs. competitive conflict-handling styles moderate the relationship between the two types of conflict and emotional exhaustion and work engagement. We also examined the role of emotion regulation (cognitive reappraisal and distraction) as a covariate to control its effects on the study variables. Utilizing two separate 2 × 2 between-subject experimental designs, we recruited 120 employees from several companies in Austria. The results suggest that higher levels of both RC and TC are positively related to emotional exhaustion and negatively to work engagement. A cooperative conflict management style moderated the effects of both RC and TC on work engagement. The results suggest decoupling RC and TC and examining the interplay between the intensity of intragroup conflict types and conflict management styles provides insights into the connection between the levels of conflict, conflict management, emotional exhaustion, and work engagement. Additionally, it supports the usage of distraction as a viable regulation strategy for managing the effects of high levels of RC on emotional exhaustion.

The Role of Shared Leadership in Managing Conflicts in Multigenerational Teams: A Research Framework

With multigenerational teams becoming ubiquitous in contemporary organisations, this article aims to address the need to understand the dynamics within such teams. The study proposes a conceptual framework to examine the role of shared leadership in multigenerational teams in promoting positive team outcomes for such teams. Potential differences in work values, attitudes and behaviours among different generations are likely to predispose multigenerational teams to a higher probability of conflicts, which may negatively impact team outcomes. The study posits that if shared leadership emerges in multigenerational teams, it is likely to promote the adoption of cooperative conflict management styles and inhibit the adoption of competitive and avoidant styles, thereby leading to positive outcomes like team performance and team member satisfaction. By proposing conflict management styles as an important mechanism through which shared leadership promotes positive team outcomes, the study intends to contribute to the emerging literature on shared leadership and conflict management in multigenerational teams.

Challenging the "static" quo: Trajectories of engagement in team processes toward a deadline.

Although team effectiveness research has advanced our understanding of team processes, much of this research has been based on static methodologies, despite the recognition that team processes change over time. Thus, the purpose of this article is to advance the team dynamics literature by developing and testing a theoretical account of team engagement in processes toward a deadline. We theorize about team process trajectories, which we suggest is the form of process change over time (i.e., pattern of increase/decrease). Further, we identify a key driver of process trajectories and consider the implications of trajectories for team performance. Results from a series of linear multilevel latent growth models suggested that teams' engagement in strategy and planning, monitoring goal progress, and cooperative conflict management (cf. Marks, Mathieu, & Zaccaro, 2001) increased over time toward a deadline, and that steeper increases tended to be positively related to team performance. Finally, achievement-striving was found to be an important within-team factor driving team-specific process trajectories and was indirectly related to performance. This study provides new theoretical insights with respect to how teams engage in processes toward a deadline, along with team achievement-striving as a compositional input, and the performance implications of team process trajectories. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Rethinking the Role of Team Mindfulness in Relationship Conflict: A Conflict Management Perspective

Building on Deutsch’s theory of cooperation and competition and prior work on team mindfulness, we develop a model to outline how and when team mindfulness reduces team relationship conflict. A time-lagged survey was conducted with 73 teams in an airline food service company located in China. The results showed that team mindfulness was negatively related to team relationship conflict via increased cooperative conflict management and decreased competitive conflict management. Further, high perceived job demands within a team were shown to weaken the positive effect of team mindfulness on cooperative conflict management. Theoretical contributions and practical implications are discussed.

The vicious cycle of unfairness and conflict in teams

PurposeTeams often cannot fulfill their managers’ expectations due to unfairness issues and dysfunctional conflicts with teammates. This paper aims to create a fair team environment, it is important to analyze the interrelationship between unfairness and conflict. However, only a few studies have done this and reported inconsistent results. Using negative reciprocity research as a theoretical foundation, this paper analyzes the interconnection between unfairness and conflict dimensions in the team context. This paper further integrates conflict management research to show employees and managers how to handle unfairness and conflict in teams.Design/methodology/approachThe authors conducted a longitudinal survey study (three points in time) with 237 employees from different German organizations.FindingsThe results of cross-lagged structural equation modeling provide some evidence that interpersonal, procedural and informational unfairness predict relationship conflict and process conflict. Several of these effects become non-significant over time. Further, relationship and process conflict have several significant relationships with the unfairness dimensions, while task conflict did not have any significant relationship. The results also suggest that employees can break up the vicious cycle of unfairness and conflict by using a cooperative conflict management approach.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper focuses on members of autonomous, interdependent and existing teams and the interpersonal relationship of a team member with her or his teammates. Future research could analyze leader-member relationships in different team types.Practical implicationsThe application of cooperative conflict management enables employees to break up the vicious cycle of unfairness.Originality/valueThis paper clarifies the interrelationship between unfairness and conflict and shows that a team member can apply a cooperative conflict management style to handle effectively unfairness and conflict.

Impact of culture differences on performance of international construction joint ventures: the moderating role of conflict management

PurposeCultural differences have been frequently cited as a major source of risks for international joint ventures (IJVs). Cultural differences may cause extensive conflicts in technology, norms and emotion among the international joint venture (IJV) partners. The purpose of this study is to explore the interactive effects of national culture differences (NCDs) and conflict management approaches on the performance of international construction joint ventures (ICJV).Design/methodology/approachData were collected using a questionnaire survey method with 143 valid responses. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to test the research hypotheses.FindingsIt was found that ICJV performance declined with a high degree of NCDs. The negative effect of NCDs on ICJV performance was mitigated by adopting the cooperative conflict management approach; while it was aggravated by adopting the competitive conflict management approach. The findings may provide an alternative way (i.e. adopting the cooperative conflict management approach rather than avoiding or competitive approaches) to address the cultural conflicts in the multicultural project management teams.Practical implicationsFirstly, as NCD negatively impacts performance of ICJVs, project managers should pay attention to cultural issues and learn how to manage them; Secondly, as cooperative and competitive conflict management approaches have different moderating effects on the relationship between NCD and ICJV performance, project managers must choose appropriate conflict management styles in multination teams. Thirdly, as the avoiding approach has no significant moderating effect on the negative relationship between NCD and ICJV performance, it is important for Chinese partners not to employ avoiding approach to deal with conflicts in ICJV.Originality/valueThis study uniquely adds to the literature on cultural issues in managing ICJVs by integrating the moderating effects of conflict management approaches. The interactive effects of conflict management approaches and national cultural differences on ICJV project performance may contribute to the theories regarding conflict management theory in the context of cross-cultural management.

Ethical leaders manage conflict to develop trust

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to propose that effective ethical leaders develop high quality relationships with team members; in particular, they manage their conflicts with team members cooperatively.Design/methodology/approachThe authors empirically tested this hypothesis with responses from 117 managers and 302 subordinates.FindingsThrough cooperative conflict management, leaders develop trusting, mutually committed relationships. Ethical leaders and their employees avoid competitive conflict where they try to impose their ideas and resolutions on each other.Practical implicationsThe findings suggest that ethical leaders can have a significant impact by fostering cooperative conflict management and reducing competitive conflict management. Thus, organizations are encouraged to adopt training and selection procedures to develop more ethical leaders.Originality/valueThis study adds to leadership research that effective leaders develop high quality relationships that help them influence employees as well as to be open and influenced by them.

THE INFLUENCE OF EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE ON EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE MEDIATED BY COOPERATIVE CONFLICT MANAGEMENT STYLE OF INTEGRATING AND COMPROMISING

This study aimed to analyze the relationship between emotional intelligence, conflict management styles, and employee performance at P4TK PKn IPS office in Batu, East Java. The population of this study is 100 civil servant employees with a minimum length of service of one year and the minimum rank of 5. The whole population is used as the sample (saturated sample), and the data were analysed using smartPLS 3.0. The result of this study shows that emotional intelligence significantly influences integrating style, compromising style, and employee performance. Also, integrating style has a significant influence on employee performance. This study also confirms that integrating style partially mediates the influence of emotional intelligence on employee performance. Finally, this study confirms that emotional intelligence in public organizations can provide benefits that are found in private organizations. Because this study focuses only on integrating and compromising styles, subsequent research can investigate the less cooperative conflict management styles such as bonding, dominating, and avoiding and comparing the three styles with integrating and compromising style. Therefore, next researches can determine whether or not emotionally intelligent employees avoid the use of the less cooperative conflict management styles and determine the influence of the styles on performance.

The Relationship between Power Perception and Couple's Conflict Management Strategy

ABSTRACTInterpersonal conflict is integral to intimate spousal relationships, and while potentially destructive, it can also enhance sharing of feelings and thoughts and the sense of being loved. Its positive or negative effects partly rely on how partners deal with it. This study was conducted in Israel with 160 participants. All participants were Jewish and involved in long-term heterosexual intimate relationships (married/in a serious relationship). The study examines a model that suggests that perceived socioemotional and materialistic power of a couple predicts their conflict management strategies. In addition, we tested whether this relationship is mediated by perceived quality of spousal relationship. The perceived socioemotional power was found to predict only cooperative conflict management stratagies and only for women. It was also found that this correlation is mediated by the perceived quality of the relationship. This study enhances our understanding of the way individuals grapple with spousal conflicts and reveals the positive power that can be nurtured and embodied within the spousal relationship. In addition, this study reveals that the effect of power perception differs between men and women. Clinical and research implications for couple and family therapists are discussed, and suggestions for effective clinical practice in addressing marital power are given.